This invention relates to the curing of primal cuts of meat and, more particularly, to the use of ammonium chloride, ammonium phosphates, and potassium phosphates in the curing of primal cuts of meat, so that the finished product offered in the commercial marketplace can be classified as a non-sodium added product.
The term "primal cuts", as used herein, refers to definitions promulgated by the American Meat Institute and is deemed when used herein to include, fresh or green cuts of ham, bacon, pork, corned beef, pastrami and other meats to be cured.
It is well known that in the curing of green or fresh cuts of meat, more particularly ham, or in the curing of sausage type meat products that various types of brine or pickling solutions are used in which the basic ingredients are sodium salts such as sodium chloride, sodium nitrite, sodium phosphate and the like type of sodium salts. These prior art brine or pickling solutions have controlled ingredients so that the finished product produced comes within the strict U.S. Government Standards and Regulations for these finished hams, bacon, pork, corned beef, pastrami and other cured meat products.
These U.S. Government Standards impose limitations as to the additives present in the final meat product, derived from curing compositions used, such that the salts of ascorbic acid, vitamin C, does not exceed 7/8 of 1 oz.; the nitrites cannot exceed 200 ppm, and the phosphates cannot exceed 0.5 of 1% per 100 lbs. of finished meat products.
Various curing compositions have been developed and used in the prior art to provide finished ham, sausage, and other meat products which fall within these standards and, more recently, curing compositions have been developed to provide finished ham, sausage, and other meat products which can be further classified as either no sodium added products, or low-sodium products. These last mentioned products are so classified when the finished meat product has sodium salts present in an amount not greater, or only slightly greater, than the original sodium salt content of the fresh or green meat product before it was subjected to the curing process.
It is obvious that such no sodium added, or low-sodium meat products are valuable because they can be used beneficially in a normal diet and also by persons that require low-sodium meat that have a cardiac condition, edematous condition, or are obese.
The prior art shows that efforts have been made to provide such no sodium added, or low-sodium meat products by utilizing various curing compositions as is set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,447,932; 3,782,925; and 4,113,885.
U.S. Pat No. 3,447,932, discloses a solid curing composition consisting of potassium polyphosphates and potassium pyrophosphates in combination with limited amounts of potassium chloride used for the manufacture of dietetic sausage in meat loaf products.
In U.S. Pat. No '932 it is made clear that while a curing solution made of potassium chloride functions like the prior art's sodium chloride solutions, it must be carefully controlled otherwise the cured meat product will have a bitter and unpalatable taste and lack the desired texture and appearance. This problem is overcome by the disclosed composition in U.S. Patent '932 by combining the potassium salts of polyphosphates and pyrophosphates so that a reduced concentration of the potassium chloride that is needed can be used.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,782,975 discloses an aqueous curing solution for primal cuts of meat which is free of sodium and chloride ions consisting of a water soluble, non-toxic potassium phosphate composition formulated with potassium nitrite, potassium nitrate, potassium ascorbate, sugar, and condiments.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,113,885 discloses compositions providing low-sodium meat products in which the curing agent utilized is a nitrite selected from the group consisting of potassium nitrite, ammonium nitrite, nitrous acid, and mixtures thereof.
It will be noted that these prior art patents seek to achieve the desired reduction of sodium in the finished meat product by combinations of potassium salts. Potassium is one of the ions that can be substituted in place of the sodium ion for this purpose. Potassium salts present a major problem because in the curing of meat the object is not only to preserve the meat but also to establish a pleasant taste and to preserve the natural color, texture and appearance of the finished meat product. However, potassium salts, more particularly, potassium chlorides, are so strong and acrid that even small quantities may produce an off-flavor in the finished meat product.
Since chloride ion is necessary to the curing of meat because it gives the finished meat product its desirable taste; Applicant considered using other chloride salts in his curing composition such as ammonium chloride, however, because chloride salts are acidic they must be alkalinized by other ingredients in the curing composition in order to provide the composition with a relatively neutral pH which will additionally assure that the cured meat has the proper taste, texture, appearance and color.
This is accomplished in the present invention by establishing a curing composition in which the pH is controlled by combining the ammonium chloride with controlled quantities of ammonium phosphate and potassium phosphate as is hereinafter more fully illustrated.
In the present invention the ammonium chloride in the curing composition provides the chloride for achieving the desired flavor and taste in the meat being cured. However, because ammonium chloride produces an acid pH condition in solutions this acid pH condition must be balanced to prevent the emulsion formed during the curing process from breaking down. To achieve this pH balance the ammonium phosphates and potassium phosphate components in the curing solution are adjusted relative to each other and to the concentration of the ammonium chloride in the curing composition to provide the necessary and desirable pH for achieving proper curing of the fresh or green cuts of the meat being treated.
A pH in the curing composition in a range from 6.3 to 7.0 will produce a stable emulsion during the curing composition. In this range the phosphates bind the protein in the meat, and the chloride helps retain moisture in the bound protein portion of the meat being treated and further helps to flavor the meat so it will have the proper taste and texture.
Applicant has no knowledge of any disclosures in the prior art of curing compositions that can be substituted in place of prior art curing solutions using sodium salts which include, in combination, ammonium chloride, ammonium phosphates, and potassium phosphates for achieving the advantageous results of the present invention.